Fall TV: Wednesdays
Wednesday has been something of a black hole for network TV, at least for shows I watch. Other than ABC’s stronger comedy block, the other networks mostly air boring cop dramas on this night. Next fall does not look to be any different. With the surprise success of the high-quality hip-hop drama Empire, none of the networks wanted to take any risks on the night and only two news shows are airing at all on the night. Let’s take a look:
8pm to 9pm
NBC is keeping the low-rated Mysteries of Laura in this timeslot in the fall, probably because the rest of their freshman shows were such utter disasters that this otherwise charming gem (Debra Messing plays a crazy but smart detective and mother of two) survived. I had other shows in the hour that were higher priority (including some cable sitcoms) that I didn’t watch most episodes, but liked the ones I did.
ABC is also keeping its family sitcoms, The Middle and The Goldbergs, while CBS is airing Survivor for the umpteenth season. The CW is keeping Arrow, now entering its syndication-critical fourth season, on at this hour.
The big change here is Fox debuting medical drama Rosewood. The trailer was not bad, but not great, but that hardly matters to Fox, which is clearly angling for the same audience that watches shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Forever.
9pm to 10pm
Absolutely no new shows in this hour. NBC has Law and Order: SVU. CBS has Criminal Minds. The CW has Supernatural. ABC has Modern Family and black-ish.
And Fox keeps its mega hit Empire, but with an expanded episode order. Let’s hope Empire does not suffer as severe a sophomore slump as Sleepy Hollow (although SH suffered from the writing more than anything else). The tough thing for Empire is going to be repeating and holding on to the crazy-high ratings it received this spring (where it was nearly doubling even mega hit The Big Bang Theory’s ratings near the end).
10pm to 11pm
Chicago PD (NBC) and Nashville (ABC) retain their timeslots here. Meanwhile, CBS tries a medical drama (Code Black) where cop dramas Stalker and CSI: Cyber largely failed.
Verdict
Definitely watching: Empire, Arrow
Maybe continuing: Mysteries of Laura
New shows I might check out: Rosewood
